Zuko's Reign: I
by AdmiralSilver
Summary: The world is at peace, and all is well, until Iroh is mysteriously poisoned. How will Zuko deal with his Uncle's fading health, the mystery, and his unborn child while dealing with an organization bent on destroying him?
1. Chapter 1

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Just an idea I had, about the futures of the characters. This story is based on Zuko, and his reign as Fire Lord. I'm not sure how well my ideas went, so please review and tell me what I need to work on, thanks.

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A man entered the chamber, his expression grim, and his news just as such. He was wringing his sweaty hands as he spoke.

"Fire Lord Sir, it's Iroh, he's gravely ill…this morning he collapsed while serving tea. The physician says-"

"Take me to him." Was the immediate answer.

Zuko followed the man down the hall, sighing deeply as he walked. He couldn't believe that just yesterday, his life had been the happiest it had ever been. Such drastic change was bound to happen, he couldn't expect things to go well forever.

Of course, things had been very hard for him immediately following his father's defeat at the hands of Avatar Aang, as he was proclaimed the new Fire Lord. He didn't imagine rebuilding the world as easy to begin with, but with a minority of powerful politicians who had favored the war because of economic benefits, he had had a lot of enemies to deal with.

Of course, Aang, the Avatar, had helped restore peace, and many of the Fire Nation people had come to realize just how wrong they had been. He and Zuko had become close friends over the years, and the world had entered an era of peace.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." Zuko told the man.

He returned to his chamber, where his wife Mai slept. Her form visible from beneath the blankets. He could just make out the outline of her stomach.

He smiled.

His wife Mai was pregnant with their first child, nearly six months along now. They had been married just two years before, on what was perhaps the happiest day of his life. Even Mai, who never seemed happy, had been uncharacteristically joyous on such a day.

"What is it Zuko?…" She mumbled.

"My Uncle, he's fallen ill."

Mai suddenly sat up, her expression serious.

"What did you hear?" She asked worriedly.

"Just that he's fallen ill, and that he collapsed in his tea shop.""Do you think he'll be-""I'm going to see him now." Zuko answered, and kissed her cheek.

"Do you want me to come?"

Zuko contemplated this. He had been very protective of Mai since she had become pregnant, and he knew it bothered her, but he couldn't bear the thought of something bad happening to her. Even though he knew he no longer had as many enemies as he once did, there was that nagging suspicion that there was still a force somewhere, out to overthrow him…"Yes, get dressed quickly."

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Mai got into one of her maternity gowns, a lovely shade of scarlet, that made her look simply beautiful in Zuko's eyes. But of course she didn't think so. She constantly complained that she was gaining too much weight, and felt like a elephant-koi fish.

"I don't know…" She said.

"What? We need to go!" He said, exasperated and wanting to see Iroh as soon as possible."Does this make me look fat?"

Zuko turned to face the other way, and face palmed. "For the last time honey, you look beautiful." He mumbled. "Then why aren't you looking at me?"Zuko twitched, his patience wearing thin.

"Let's just go!" He snapped, losing patience, not something he often did.

The man who had so rudely awakened them, Zuko's advisor Xiang Li, led them to the entrance to the palace, as was custom. "You'll be going with guard escorts today your Lordship."

Zuko turned to face him.

"Why is that?" He whispered, taking Xiang aside as to be out of earshot of Mai.

"We have reason to believe your Uncle may have been poisoned."

Zuko backed up, and put his hand to his forehead.

"We don't know anything for sure, but it would be a good idea to have you two guarded-"

"Fine." Zuko said, and went with Mai, flanked by the guards, out of the palace.

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Since the war had ended, the capital had been greatly improved upon, was considered one of the most elegant cities in the four nations, and had a very low crime rate, which caused Mai to wonder even more why they were being escorted, but she didn't dare say anything.

Zuko wiped the sweat off his Uncle's brow, he looked a ghost of his former self, even though Zuko had seen him just a week before. His breathing was shallow, and his chest rose slowly with each breath. His skin was pale and clammy, like he had a fever. Xiang Li's words rang clearly in Zuko's head.

'_We have reason to believe your Uncle may have been poisoned.'_

He cursed himself, though he knew it was fruitless and that he couldn't have known this would happen, he had no one else to blame but himself.

"Fire Lord." A woman said behind him, bowing. "He needs his rest."

Zuko stood.

"How is he?"

Her face showed no emotion. And he knew that couldn't be a good sign.

"We don't know what's wrong with him, he seems to be fine, besides the fever, but he hasn't awoken."

"What do you mean?""We're not sure yet…" She lowered her voice. "_If he's been poisoned, we're not sure what kind of poison it was., we're still researching._"

Zuko left shortly thereafter, in deep thought. What enemies did he have that would do this? And above all, what could they possibly gain from killing his Uncle?He shuddered at the thought, his Uncle, his true _father, _dying like…_this._

_He knew Iroh wasn't going to live forever, but never in his imagination did he think…_

"_Xiang. I need you to send a message to my friend the Avatar."_

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	2. Chapter 2

"The Avatar?" Xiang said, "Are you sure…""Yes Xiang Li, if someone did poison my Uncle, as you said, then I may have some enemies left after all. And we all know how well they hide in the dark…"

"I'm not sure what you mean sir…"

"Just send him a messenger. Tell him to come as soon as possible."

Aang lived in one of the air temples, where he and Katara had apparently been trying to rebuild things. They hadn't married yet, nor had he heard talk of it, but he knew they were in love. Well that much had been obvious of course, from the beginning…

He shook his head. Suddenly he felt a touch on his shoulders, his wife's hands.

"Are you ok?""Honestly? No." He said, "Things aren't going well."

"I thought not, so what did they say?"

Zuko stood up and turned away."They said it was almost like he's asleep…"Mai turned his face toward hers and kissed him.

"Don't let it worry you, everything will be alright."

He kissed her back.

"But who? Who would do this? And why?"

"Whoever it is, they're trying to get to you through your family."

Zuko looked to her worriedly, the reason needed not to be explained after her statement.

_So help me, if they even try…If they even try to hurt Mai…I'm going to find whoever did this and end their pathetic existences myself, the scum that they are…_

A flashback…

"_Do you think we can do it?" Zuko asked Aang._

_The young monk looked up from his meditation. Looking much older and wiser than his twelve years._

"_Yes, the peace can be restored, in fact it already has. Look around you, the people never supported this war, all they wanted was food on the table, and since the war gave them that, they simply agreed."_Suddenly there was a loud knocking at the chamber door. Zuko unlocked it carefully, ready to attack.

It was Xiang.

"Sir, the council is waiting. An emergency meeting has been called for, and you are needed there."

"What is this meeting about?" Zuko asked, aware that Mai was behind him.

"I haven't heard, it's very secretive. The council simply told me to fetch you immediately."

Zuko turned to Mai.

"Will you be alright?" He asked her.

"Of course I will." She answered, "I'll be fine, go to the meeting."

Zuko turned to Xiang. He wasn't a very impressive man, being middle aged, standing five foot seven in his shoes and not being very muscular. He did, however, prove to be extremely useful in political instances, and the one time he had been forced to protect Zuko, he had revealed himself to be a fire bender.

"Will you…make sure Mai is safe while I'm gone?" He asked his advisor.

Xiang nodded.

Zuko sat down at the head of the table. It would take Aang several days to arrive in the Fire Nation, and who knew what could happen by then?"Fire Lord Zuko." Was the response from the others at the table. Zuko hated meetings, they seemed far too formal, and reminded him of the time…when he was just a boy….that he joined in a war meeting with his father Ozai…

He touched the scar on his face absentmindedly.

"As you are well aware," One of the men on the right side of the table said, "what happened to your Uncle was foul play. The tea he drank had been tainted with a poison, of course the matter stands your Lordship, that very few people were in the tea shop at the time of this occurrence."

"So who was it then?" Zuko asked, annoyed it was taking so long to get to the point.

"We…don't know…"

"You're telling me that my Uncle is dying, and you have no idea who is responsible for this?"

"We're not even sure-"

Zuko rubbed his temples, just as the man on his right rose and drew a dagger.

And thrust it into Zuko.


End file.
